‘Sad, funny, wise and unblinkingly honest, this is truly wonderful.’
The Temptation to Be Happy
The International Bestseller
Lorenzo Marone
‘Sad, funny, wise and unblinkingly honest, this is truly wonderful.’ Daily Mail
‘I like the smell of pines and the aroma of freshly washed laundry. I like the rattle of hail on windowpanes and the texture of volcanic rock. I like the light in the sky when the sun has gone down.’
Cesare is an unlikely hero. As he says himself, ‘I am seventy-seven years old, and for seventy-two years and one hundred and eleven days I threw my life down the toilet…’ Is it too late for him to rediscover his passion for love and life?
Already an international bestseller, The Temptation to Be Happy is a coming-of-age story like no other.
‘Immensely charming… Uplifting and very much on the side of life.’ Mail on Sunday
Reviews
Daily Mail
‘Uh-oh, here comes another one of those colourful curmudgeons who drop pearls of senior wisdom on their way to a new lease on life. Cesare certainly fits the stereotype, but he’s funny, interesting and grumpy enough to stay on the winning side of the formula.’
New York Times Book Review
‘Immensely charming... Uplifting and very much on the side of life.’
Mail on Sunday
‘Marone’s characters, irreverent and absurd, embark on adventures they had ceased to allow themselves to imagine in this darkly comedic take on ageing.’
World Literature Today
‘An impressive literary feat…a charming tale of opportunities taken and missed.’
Reading Magazine
‘Lorenzo Marone is the new voice that literature needs.’
Corriere della Sera
‘Unforgettable...comical and cynical while remaining tender and dramatic.’
Corriere della Sera
‘The Temptation to be Happy is that very rare thing - a book that can make you both laugh and cry... Marone's undoubted skill [is] demonstrated in some beautiful lyrical passages.'
TripFiction
‘Poignant...[with] moments of touching eccentricity.’
bookoxygen
‘A wonderful novel about ageing – ironic and light-footed.’
Italien Magazin
‘Packed with dark humour, the writer's embodiment of a near-octogenarian is an impressive feat.’
Northern Echo
‘A charming tale.’
Daily Telegraph
